 Yesterday the California Supreme Court issued a ruling that had a profound effect on lesbian and gay Californians. We saw thousands of people take to the streets last night to express their sadness, grief and dismay at the court's failure to protect their fundamental rights. For even one couple to live through one more day of state sanctioned second class citizenship is one day too many. Tonight California's same sex wedding band is under fire and they're ready to take the case all the way to the Supreme Court. But they're kind of an odd legal couple. Veteran lawyers Ted Olson and David Boyce are coming together on gay marriage. Ted Olson is a former U.S. Solicitor General and a renowned conservative. He represented George W. Bush in the election case. This case is about the equal rights guaranteed to every American under the United States Constitution. Then there's David Boyce who represented Al Gore. Republicans, Democrats, conservatives and liberals all recognize the importance of the equal rights guaranteed by the Constitution. They have joined together to challenge this ban. They want to take the issue of gay marriage to the Supreme Court. Well that's history in the making in California happening right now. Proposition 8 went on trial today in federal court in San Francisco. First ever federal case challenging laws against gay marriage. To determine if states that ban same sex marriage are violating the Constitution. Two couples in the case who are challenging Prop 8 arrived at the federal courthouse early. We're all Americans who simply want to get married just like everyone else. Nothing really speaks to the true commitment of two people in our minds as strongly as the term marriage. There are three basic points that we want to make. One is that marriage is a fundamental right. Since 1888 the United States Supreme Court has 14 times decided that the right to marriage is a fundamental right. The second is that gay and lesbian couples are seriously harmed when they're deprived of that right. They are our doctors, our lawyers, our neighbors, our friends, our coworkers. And the third point is that allowing them to be married doesn't hurt anybody. You're simply allowing people that have an abiding affection for one another to live a civil life as your next-door neighbor the same way you are. More case that could affect the future of gay marriage across the nation. In San Francisco a federal trial of same sex marriage is now underway. Isn't it risky to ask the court to invalidate that much public opinion before the public is really ready for it? When the Supreme Court held that it was unconstitutional to prevent interracial marriages, 64 percent or more of the population of the United States, about two-thirds of the population of the United States, believed interracial marriages were wrong. The trial of a Proposition 8, the ban on same sex marriages moving into a new phase that after opponents of Prop 8 called their final witness today. Meanwhile the team defending Proposition 8 seemed to struggle a little bit in the courtroom today. The judge in our case asked my opponent, what harm to the institution of heterosexual marriage would occur if gays and lesbians were allowed to marry? My opponent said, finally he had to answer truthfully, I don't know. I don't know. What we saw at trial is that it's very easy to make all sorts of statements in campaign literature or in debates where they can't be cross-examined but when they come into court and they have to support those opinions and they have to defend those opinions under oath and cross-examination, those opinions just melt away. The testimony is over in the same sex marriage trial in San Francisco. A federal judge heard final arguments about the same sex marriage ban from both sides of that issue. The political process in the case of same sex marriage was working. Five states in Washington, D.C. have legalized same sex marriage. Now you are in effect pushing the courts to preempt the argument. Well would you like your right to free speech? Would you like Fox's right to free press, put up to a vote, and say, well, five states have approved it, let's wait till the other 45 states do. We're not trying to take something away from anyone. Jeff and I are trying to change the world. What we're trying to do is reiterate what our government has already told us. That this right is a fundamental right for every single American. Good evening, breaking news tonight in America's national debate about what defines a family. Up and down the Golden State supporters of same sex marriage are celebrating tonight. Federal Judge Vaughn R. Walker's ruling was sweeping and definitive, striking down the ban on same sex marriage in ringing terms. Because California has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional. Today's decision affirms that under the Constitution, a government of the people, by the people, and for the people cannot discriminate against the people. The judge also directly rebutted opponents of same sex marriage, saying permitting same sex couples to marry will not affect either the number of or stability of opposite sex marriages. The landmark decision was the result of a lawsuit filed by two same sex couples to overturn Prop 8. With this decision, the system worked. Our courts are supposed to protect our constitutional rights. Today, they did. A quality is something that our nation has always been about. We read about it in school. Our ancestors came to this country in search of it. Well this decision today brings Paul and I and so many others like us closer to that equality too. The next legal step in the battle over same sex marriage in California is now underway. The fight over Proposition 8 continued in court today. A three-judge panel with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is set to hear arguments from Prop 8 supporters. The judges will decide whether to uphold a district judge's ruling that the initiative voters approved in 2008 to ban same sex marriage is unconstitutional. The justices are expected to take at least a month and likely more to make their decisions about this case. There's been a bit of a delay because those who oppose them on same sex marriage are actually questioning the legitimacy of the trial. I want to get back to the huge decision today that is taking place in California. A big day for civil rights today. The California Prop 8 same sex marriage case that got decided today in California. The federal appeals court struck down California's Proposition 8 and gave supporters of same sex marriage their biggest legal victory yet. The court found that Proposition 8 served no purpose and had no effect other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California. These are our American citizens. These are our brothers and our sisters. We have got to treat them right and we got to treat them decently and we got them to give them the same freedom and justice that we give to other people. Well, a big ruling in the fight for California's Prop 8 and marriage equality, but the fight is not over. Full sides expect this case to go to the Supreme Court. To every American whose rights are being denied, we are here to say this fight is not over and we will win. I think it is in some senses the last major civil rights battle that we're fighting in this country, hopefully. And so today we begin the process of saying to the millions of people who are made to feel ostracized, besieged, bullied, and ashamed of how God made them. Be who you are. Love who you love. And marry who you wish to marry.